Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology最新文献

Leader's vision articulation is recognized as a vital part of successful leadership. Despite that the sound measurement of vision articulation has been widely neglected by scholars so far. Therefore, we developed and validated a 22-item instrument to comprehensively measure leader's vision articulation in two studies (overall N = 496). Theoretically derived dimensions are: Comprehensibility, Empowerment, Self-worth, Salience and Continuity of Collective Values, Relation to and Change of Intermediate Goals, Promotion and Prevention Focus, and Personalization. CFA supported a revised seven-factor model with a combined Values- and Goals-factor and no Prevention Focus-factor across the two studies. Correlations with leadership styles (i.e., transformational and identity leadership) suggest construct validity. Correlations and partial correlations with employee outcomes (i.e., affective commitment, occupational self-efficacy, innovative work behavior, job satisfaction, satisfaction with the leader, and team identification) suggest criterion validity. Regression analyses including transformational leadership and the vision articulation subscales further provide evidence for incremental criterion validity.

Although it is well-established that religious individuals tend to volunteer more than the non-religious, few studies have examined motivations to volunteer as a potential explanation for this relationship. The present research takes a functional approach to examine whether religiosity drives volunteerism by promoting certain motivations for volunteering. Two common theories of religious prosociality are considered: (1) religious belief increases volunteering through internalized prosocial values, and (2) religious service attendance increases volunteering by fostering social relationships, hence increasing social reasons for volunteering. In two studies, Values-based and Social-based motivations to volunteer are tested as mediators in the relationship between religiosity (both belief and service attendance) and volunteering. Study 1 used a predominantly university student sample (N = 130) to predict volunteering intentions, whereas Study 2 employed an Australian community sample (N = 772) to predict self-reported volunteer hours. Both studies show consistent findings that the Values motive mediated the relationship between religious belief and volunteering, whereas the Social motive did not mediate the relationship between religious service attendance and volunteering. We find support for the theory that religious beliefs boost volunteerism by promoting humanistic reasons for volunteering.

Social identity validation occurs when someone receives recognition as a member of their ingroup. Building on uncertainty-identity theory and social identity research, we conducted a study (N = 249) of identity validation processes. We measured (a) identity centrality, and manipulated (b) feedback, (c) source of feedback, and (d) the feedback source's prototypicality, and assessed their effects on feelings of validation, and evaluation of the source and the source's group. As hypothesized, ingroup validation created the strongest sense of validation. Evaluations of the feedback source depended on the feedback and participants' identity centrality. As hypothesized, a four-way interaction between the four predictors emerged on evaluation of the feedback source's group. Implications for intra- and intergroup dynamics and future research are discussed.

The number of women who remain childfree is on the rise, as documented by demographic statistics. Yet, because research on women in the workplace has so far been focused on documenting the motherhood penalty in the workplace, childfree women have remained almost invisible. Relying on empirical data and theoretical arguments, the present paper gathers evidence that deviating from the motherhood mandate may have negative consequences for women's work–life. An integrative framework is offered which posits that childfree women's characteristics and features of the workplace interact in a unique and potentially underestimated way to impact childfree women's quality of work–life. Childfree women's characteristics include age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and social class. Features of the workplace pertain to the culture of the organization and job characteristics. Quality of work–life encompasses career outcomes (i.e., pay and position, hiring and evaluation) and working conditions (i.e., work–life balance, workplace incivility). Drawing on the proposed framework, I suggest several research avenues and consider the challenges of exploring the issue of childfree women's work–life within interdisciplinary research teams, and from an intersectional perspective.

Intergroup contact is repeatedly proven to lead to better intergroup attitudes. We sought to explore a new path through which this happens. We propose that contact can enhance inclusiveness of social identity, the recognition of common features needed to perceive someone as an in-group member even though not all characteristics are shared. This, in turn, leads to more favorable attitudes. We investigated this among young people from majority and minority ethnic groups from two Western Balkans countries with a recent history of conflict: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. The relation between the frequency and quality of contact and prejudice reduction was partially mediated by social identity inclusiveness. We discuss the opportunities and pitfalls related to constructing inclusive social identities in post-conflict societies, as well as the similarities and differences between minority and majority perspectives.

The evolving conceptualization of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reflects ongoing debate regarding the development and manifestation of symptoms related to psychological trauma. The most recent iteration of the disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) broadened Criteria A’s definition of an index trauma, making possible its application to individuals experiencing symptoms related to their own act of perpetration. The current research aims to develop a theoretical basis for understanding the mechanism of psychological distress resulting from perceived perpetration. It is hypothesized that unresolved dissonance relating to a violation of one's symbolic source of self-esteem and meaning (i.e., one's belief system) represents a traumatic experience that can produce significant psychological distress. This hypothesis forms the basis of the Traumatic Dissonance Scale (TDS), which contains three facets required to meet the criteria for a traumatic perpetrator experience: (a) the act must clearly violate one's belief system, (b) the belief system must be important to one's identity, and (c) there must be no perceived way of atoning for one's actions. Participants (N = 429) were recruited online and include subsamples of military, police, and civilian participants. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized 3-factor model, and latent profile analysis identified four respondent classes that differ in mean responses to the three TDS dimensions. Class membership was used as a predictor of PTSD symptoms, and results demonstrated that elevation on all three factors was significantly related to increased PTSD symptom severity compared to those in classes not reporting traumatic dissonance experiences.

Past research in social psychology has explored the effects of considering a given policy or issue from different perspectives. In the case of political information, for example, this might mean thinking about broad systemic factors or values that cause an outcome or alternatively focusing on the local actors who are responsible for and/or affected by that system. In the present studies, we explore whether beliefs about systemic (vs. personal) features of social class are more effective at predicting their positions about policies or norms that change inequality. Results consistently showed that system-level perceptions of social class were more predictive of support for social change than perceptions of personal disadvantage. We discuss the implications of these findings for work on the psychology of inequality.